Recent Lakers rumors have been about the reported announcement that they will be opening the season against the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the middle of the offseason, there haven’t been too many Lakers rumors swirling around. As players get prepared for training camp and the start of the season, we now know who the Lakers will be playing to start the season.
While we don’t know the whole schedule for the Lakers yet, it appears that they will be playing the Los Angeles Clippers to start the season.
Lakers and Clippers will meet opening night, and it's a Lakers home game on Oct 19, per source.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) August 10, 2017
This game will certainly bring plenty of intrigue to start the season. Like the Lakers this offseason, the Clippers were very busy trying to improve as well. This offseason, the Clippers agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Houston Rockets that ended the Chris Paul era in Los Angeles.
While Paul is certainly one of the best point guards in the NBA, he was never able to accomplish much in the playoffs with the Clippers. Now, the Clippers will be moving forward with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan as their premier players. However, moving Paul did allow the Clippers to finally add some talented depth to their roster.
In the past few seasons, the Clippers have been a much better product on the court compared to the Lakers. However, Los Angeles is still a Laker town, and they appear to be heading in the right direction.
Even though the Clippers lost Paul, they are still a team that could be a playoff contender in the Western Conference. This will be a good early test for the Lakers, as they will be able to see where they are early in the season against a potential playoff team.
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The matchup between the Lakers and the Clippers will certainly have the Staples Center rocking, as Lonzo Ball’s first game will be in front of a home crowd. Make sure to mark your calendars for October, 19th in Los Angeles.